Strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and populations in four regional hubs in Northern Mauritania

The document provides a comprehensive gender analysis of Mauritania, focusing on the socio-legal barriers women face and how climate change disproportionately affects them. It highlights significant disparities in land ownership, where women hold less than 8% of registered title deeds, and describes 'time poverty' resulting from the increased burden of water and fuel collection due to drought. The report also details systemic gender-based violence, including FGM and domestic abuse, and the marginalization of Haratine women. These findings are intended to shape a Gender Action Plan to ensure inclusive benefits from ecosystem resilience projects in four regional hubs in northern Mauritania.

• Mauritanian women face severe legal and social inequalities, with the Gender Inequality Index ranking the country 161st out of 170 in 2021. Legal frameworks are fragmented across Islamic, Customary African, Customary Arabic-Bedouin/Berber, and Civil law, leaving women's rights in marriage uncertain.
• Climate change disproportionately impacts women in Mauritania, primarily through 'time poverty'. Increased drought frequency forces women and girls to travel longer distances for water and firewood, which reduces time available for productive activities and can lead to girls leaving school.
• Women have extremely limited access to land ownership and tenure. Only 2,146 of 27,000 registered title deeds (less than 8%) are held by women, and the government has not adopted affirmative action policies to increase this access.
• Gender-specific roles in agriculture limit women's economic potential. While women make up nearly 43% of the agricultural labor force and handle food processing and small ruminants, they have limited access to formal extension services (less than 10%) and financial resources.
• Gender-based violence is pervasive and often lacks legal recourse. There is no comprehensive law addressing violence against women, and practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) remain widely practiced despite some prohibitions in the Juvenile Justice Code.
• Haratine women face intersectional discrimination and marginalization. Despite legal prohibitions, slavery remains a common practice, and Haratine women are frequently victims of sexual violence and dispossession of ancestral property.
• Women are underrepresented in political and judicial spheres. As of February 2021, women held only 20.3% of parliamentary seats. In the justice system, Sharia law may give a woman's testimony only half the weight of a man's.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2025). Strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and populations in four regional hubs in Northern Mauritania. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp266-gender-assessment.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. Strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and populations in four regional hubs in Northern Mauritania. 2025. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp266-gender-assessment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=Strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and populations in four regional hubs in Northern Mauritania |date=3 July 2025 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp266-gender-assessment.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2025strengthening, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{Strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and populations in four regional hubs in Northern Mauritania}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp266-gender-assessment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }